Manually adjustable tooth brush

ABSTRACT

A tooth brush that includes an elongate rigid handle that pivotally supports a brush assembly that has a number of circumferentially spaced cavities therein that may be successively axially aligned with a bore extending longitudinally in the handle. A rigid rod is slidably mounted in the bore. Pivotal, lockable means are operatively associated with the rod to move the latter longitudinally relative to the handle to engage one of the cavities, and hold the head at a desired angle or in longitudinal alignment with the handle to facilitate the cleaning of the user&#39;&#39;s teeth.

United States Patent I1 1 Brenner [4 1 Mar. 4, 1975 154] MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE TOOTH BRUSH [76] Inventor: I. Edward Brenner, 800 W.

Amerige Ave., Fullerton, Calif. 92632 [22] Filed: June 5, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 259,443

[52] U.S. Cl. 15/172, 15/144 R, 15/167 R [51] Int. Cl. A46b 15/00, A46b 9/10 [58] Field of Search 14/171, 172, 176, 184, 14/185,144 R, 144 A, 144 B, 167

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 424,716 4/1890 Lichtenstein 15/172 1,092,014 3/1914 Briggs 15/172 1,405,712 2/1922 Lewis 15/172 2,689,967 9/1954 Mackey 15/172 3,691,587 9/1972 Makowskyn, 15/172 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 763,614 12/1956 Great Britain 15/172 Primary E.\'aminerPeter Feldman Attorney, Agent, or FirmWilliam C. Babcock [57] ABSTRACT A tooth-brush that includes an elongate rigid handle that pivotally supports a brush assembly that has a number of circumferentially spaced cavities therein that may be successively axially aligned with a bore extending longitudinally in the handle. A rigid rod is slidably mounted in the bore. Pivotal, lockable means are operatively associatedwith the rod to move the latter longitudinally relativeto the handle to engage one of the cavities, and hold the head at a desired angle or in longitudinal alignment. with the handle to facilitate the cleaning of the users teeth.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing igures PATENTEU 41975 -tm V //////////////VM//////// W/ 4Z0 I MANUALLY ADJUSTABLE TOOTH BRUSH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Manually adjustable tooth brush.

2. Description of the Prior Art For a number of years it has been recognized that optimum dental care of the teeth is achieved when the teeth are brushed withst rokes that move away from the m SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An elongaterigid handle that pivotally supports a brush assembly on a second end thereof. The brush assembly has a number of circumferentially spaced cavities formed on a first end thereof. A recess is formed in the handle adjacent the first end thereof, with the recess being in communication with a bore in the handle that extends longitudinally to the second end of the handle, and the cavities by rotation of the brush assembly being selectively alignable with the bore.

A rigid rod is slidably mounted in the bore, and is pivotally connected to a locking member that is at all times at least partially disposed in said recess. When the locking memberis in a first longitudinally extending position in the recess, the rod is in engagement with one of the cavities and selectively holds the brush assembly at a desired position relative to the handle. The

desired position may be one where it is either angularly positioned relative to the handle or axially aligned therewith. The locking member when pivoted to a second position is slidable in the recess,and permits the rod to be moved longitudinally out of engagement with one of the cavities. The brush assembly may now be moved to a desired position relative to the handle, and locked in position by causing the rod to engage one of the cavities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tooth brush with the pivotally adjustable brush assembly;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal crosssectional view of the device taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal] cross-sectional view of the device taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the de vice taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of a first end portion of the handle, with the locking member being in a second position to permit the rod'pivotally attached thereto to be moved longitudinally relative to the handle; I

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the device illustrating the various positions to which the brush assembly may be pivotally adjusted; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the device, with the brush assembly normally disposed to the handle and in brushing engagement with the teeth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The manually adjustable toothbrush A, as may best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes an elongate rigid handle B that has a first end portion 10 and second end portion 12. A brushassembly C is pivotally supported from second end portion 12 by a pin, rivet, or other suitable means D. The handle B, as may best be seen in FIG. 2, has a recess 14 formed in the first end portion 10 thereof, with the recess being in communication with a bore 16 that extends longitudinally through the handle to the second end portion 12 thereof.

The brush assembly C includes an elongate rigid member l8 having first and second end portions 20 and 22 respectively. A plurality of bristles E extend outwardly from the second end portion 22 of member 18. Second end portion 12 of handle B includes an outwardly extending projection 24 of lesser thickness than the balance of the handle. Projection 24 has a transverse bore 26 formed therein. The first end portion 20 of member 18 overlies the projection 24. End portion 20 has a transverse bore 28 formed therein that is axially aligned with bore 26, as shown in FIG. 2. The pivotal support D is illustrated in the drawing as a rivet that engages the bores 26 and 28..

Member 18 on the first end portion 20 thereof defines a semi-circular surface 30 in. which a plurality of circumferentially spaced cavities 32 are formed. The

cavities 32 are so positioned that any desired one thereof may be axially aligned with the longitudinally extending bore 16.

An elongate rigid rod 34 is slidably mounted'in bore 16. An elongate locking member 36 that is slightly less length than recess l4 is pivotally connected by a transverse pin 38 to a first end 40 of rod 34. When'the locking member 36 is slidably and pivotally moved to a first position to occupy recess 14, which is of elongate shape, the rod 34 is moved towards the second end por tion 12 to engage a desired one of the cavities 32 and hold the brush assembly C in either a coaxially aligned position relative to handle B or at an angle relative thereto. The tooth brush A is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6 as including three cavities 32, and the brush assembly C capable of being locked selectively in either an aligned position with the handle or normally disposed relative thereto. The normally disposed positions of the brush assembly C are illustrated in phantom line in FIG. 6.

When it is desired to adjust the brush assembly C to a desired position relative to handle B, the locking member 36 is pivoted to a second position, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and then moved. longitudinally away from second end portion 12. Rod 34 is concurrently moved in a longitudinal direction with the locking member 36 to the extent that the rod 34 is disengaged from the cavities 32. Brush assembly C may now be pivotally adjusted to a desired position where one of the cavities is aligned with bore 16. Locking member 36 is now pivotally and slidably moved to the first position to move the rod 36 longitudinally to engage the one of the cavities 32 that is axially aligned with bore 16.

Although but three circumferen'tially spaced cavities 32 are shown on the drawing, it will be apparent that additional cavities may be provided if more than three, positions for the brush assembly C are desired. When the brush assembly C is axially aligned with the handle B they cooperate to provide a conventional tooth brush. However, when the brush assembly C is normally disposed to the handle B the user may easily and conveniently cleanse his teeth by brushing movement away from the gums. The brush assembly C when disposed as shown in FIG. 7 may be used to cleanse the exterior and interior surfaces of a portion of the teeth 42, and when moved to the reverse normal position the balance of the exterior and interior surfaces of the teeth may be cleaned.

To permit the handle B to have the bore 16 formed therein without seriously weakening the handle, the handle is preferably of the transverse cross section shown in FIG. 4. The handle B, as may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, includes a longitudinally extending rib 42 in which bore 16 is formed. Both the handle B and member 18 are preferably formed of a suitable polymerized resin such as-used in conventional tooth brush structures. v

I claim:

1. A manually adjustable tooth brush that includes:

a. an elongate one piece rigid handle having first and second end portions, said handle having a first recess therein adjacent said first end portion, and a bore extending longitudinally through said handle from said first recess to said second end portion;

b. an elongate brush assembly that includes an elongate rigid member having first and second ends, a

plurality of spaced bristles that extend outwardly from said member adjacent said second end, and said member at said first end defining a transverse semi-circular surface in which a plurality of circumferentially spaced cavities are defined;

c. first means for so pivotally supporting said brush assembly from said second end portion of said handle that said cavities may be successively axially aligned with said bore;

d. a rigid rod having first and second ends, said rod slidably mounted in said bore; and

e. an elongate rigid locking member pivotally supported on said first end of said rod and at least partially disposable in said recess when said locking member is in a first position, with said pivotal locking member when in said firstposition being axially aligned with said rod and snuggly engaging said recess to maintain said second end of said rod in fixed engagement with a selected one of said cavities to maintain said brush assembly at one of a plurality of possible positions relative to said handle, said pivotal locking member when in a second position in which it is angularly disposed relative to said rod being longitudinally slidable relative to said recess to the extent that said rod may be moved longitudinally relative to said handle towards said first end portion of said handle to permit disengagement of said second end of said rod from one of said cavities, and said brush assembly thereafter being pivotally movable on said second end portion of said handle to a desired position at which it may be locked relative to said handle by moving said pivotal locking member to said first position to in turn move said rod longitudinally towards saidsecond end portion of said handle to dispose said second end of said rod in one of said cavities.

2. A tooth brush as defined in claim I in which said recess is of elongate shape and said pivotal locking member is a rigid member of slightly less length than said recess and pivotally connected to said first end of said rod, with said member when in a first position being longitudinally disposed in said recess and adjacently disposed to an end surface thereof, and when in a second position being normally disposed to said handle to permit said rod to be moved longitudinally into or out of engagement with desired ones of said cavities. 

1. A manually adjustable tooth brush that includes: a. an elongate one piece rigid handle having first and second end portions, said handle having a first recess therein adjacent said first end portion, and a bore extending longitudinally through said handle from said first recess to said second end portion; b. an elongate brush assembly that includes an elongate rigid member having first and second ends, a plurality of spaced bristles that extend outwardly from said member adjacent said second end, and said member at said first end defining a transverse semi-circular surface in which a plurality of circumferentially spaced cavities are defined; c. first means for so pivotally supporting said brush assembly from said second end portion of said handle that said cavities may be successively axially aligned with said bore; d. a rigid rod having first and second ends, said rod slidably mounted in said bore; and e. an elongate rigid locking member pivotally supported on said first end of said rod and at least partially disposable in said recess when said locking member is in a first position, with said pivotal locking member when in said first position being axially aligned with said rod and snuggly engaging said recess to maintain said second end of said rod in fixed engagement with a selected one of said cavities to maintain said brush assembly at one of a plurality of possible positions relative to said handle, said pivotal locking member when in a second position in which it is angularly disposed relative to said rod being longitudinally slidable relative to said recess to the extent that said rod may be moved longitudinally relative to said handle towards said first end portion of said handle to permit disengagement of said second end of said rod from one of said cavities, and said brush assembly thereafter being pivotally movable on said second end portion of said handle to a desired position at which it may be locked relative to said handle by moving said pivotal locking member to said first position to in turn move said rod longitudinally towards said second end portion of said handle to dispose said second end of said rod in one of said cavities.
 2. A tooth brush as defined in claim 1 in which said recess is of elongate shape and said pivotal locking member is a rigid member of slightly less length than said recess and pivotally connected to said first end of said rod, with said member when in a first position being longitudinally disposed in said recess and adjacently disposed to an end surface thereof, and when in a second position being normally disposed to said handle to permit said rod to be moved longitudinally into or out of engagement with desired ones of said cavities. 